


The Data Crystal (The Sword)

by Anxious_pineapple



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe, CADMUS - Freeform, Crossover, Dialogue Heavy, F/F, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:40:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25457149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anxious_pineapple/pseuds/Anxious_pineapple
Summary: The plot of the first two episodes of She-ra Princess of Power but Supergirl characters.Kara had grown up being taught by Cadmus that all aliens are monsters. An accident in the woods leads her on a path of adventure and self discovery.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, kara/lena
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30





	The Data Crystal (The Sword)

**Author's Note:**

> “It doesn’t matter what they do to us, you know. You look out for me, I look out for you. Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other.” A young Kara comforts a young Lena after she is bullied by their squad.  
> “You promise?”  
> “I promise.”
> 
> Lillian implanted a chip in Kara's neck that disabled her powers. The data crystal overrides it, giving Kara all of her Kryptonian abilities, and providing her a supersuit.
> 
> Minor edits have been made from the original posting.

Kara woke up early, like she did every morning. She dressed in her Cadmus uniform and threw a couple of punches on the bag before running to her spot for the simulator. Lena isn’t there. She hardly ever is these days. Kara asks around, but they don’t know where she is either. Lena will turn up. She always does. Kara lies for her and they begin the simulation. Kara excels, taking out twice as many bots as her team. The last bot gives her trouble as she falls in a hole in the floor from the pressure sensors. Lena swoops in and destroys the last bot. 

“Hey, Kara. How’s it hanging?”

“Lena.” Kara says dangling from her staff in the hole. “Did you really show up late and let us do all the hard parts? That is low, even for you.”

“Aw. You know nothing’s too low for me.” Lena laughs, taunting Kara from above before reaching her hand down. “Come on, you look stupid hanging down there.”

Kara rolls her eyes but accepts the extended hand. Lena pulls Kara up.

After they leave the training area and meet back up in the locker room, Lena comes over and laughs about it some more.

“You should have seen your face. You were like, “Aah, no! Betrayal.”” Lena says reenacting the events.

“Oh, come on, Lena. We’re senior cadets now. I can’t believe you’re still pulling such childish, immature--” Kara tackles Lena to the ground.

Lena flips them both around and pins Kara's wrists to the floor.

“Are you ever going to let me win?” Kara asks.

“No. This is much more fun.”

Kara flips them again. “I know, but for some reason it’s always funny when you land on your back.”

“Kara,” Lillian’s voice echoes through the locker room. Her presence has always been comanding especially in the small area.

Kara scrambles off of Lena and stands at attention. Lena is slow to get up and leans against the lockers when she does. Lillian appears, seemingly from the shadows.

“You have done well. You’ve completed your training course in record time.” Lillian only addresses Kara.

“Uh, well, that wasn’t just me. You know, Lena did, too.” Kara pulls Lena to her side, much to Lena’s distain.

“Ah, yes. How someone as unmotivated as you completed the course in that time, I’ll never know.” Lillian berates Lena.

“Always serving up those pep talks, huh, Lillian?”

“Silence!” Lillian raises her voice. Kara and Lena stand up straight in fear. “Do not be flippant with me, cadet.”

Anticipating the pain that Lillian could inflict upon her, Lena says, “Sorry, Lillian.”

“Kara, walk with me.”

Before following, Kara looks at Lena who shrugs and crosses her arms.

The second time her name is called, Kara runs after Lillian.

“The council sees great potential in you. They have promoted you to force captain. You will have the honor of leading a squadron in the invasion of Northon, a base near National City that is a known alien fortress.”

“We’re finally seeing active duty?”

“You are seeing active duty.” Lillian corrects.

“But I’ll be able to bring my team along, right?”

“Your team is not ready. They’ll only slow you down.”

“Lillian, with respect, they’ve been training hard for this too. And Lena, all she wants is to get out there and prove herself.”

“Then she should have worked harder to prove herself to me. This is what I raised you for, Kara.” Lillian pulls out the force captain badge. “Now is your chance to prove yourself.”

Kara hesitates before taking the badge from Lillian’s hand. 

“I saw talent in you the moment I found you as an orphan child and took you in.” Lillian places her hand on the side of Kara’s face, her fingers brushing over the implant on Kara’s neck. “Is this not what you’ve wanted since you were old enough to want anything?”

“Yes,” Kara breathes.

“With you at the forefront, we will crush the alien rebellion once and for all. Do not disappoint me.”

Kara looks out at the base she has come to call home, longing to leave it’s walls.

In the tower, J'onn, the head of all the superhero aliens, sits in his office observing interplanetary travel on his computer. Plans to defeat Cadmus are spread all over his desk. The alien hating Cadmus seems to have an endless supply of new recruits, but his heroes, limited as they were, have been working to prevent them from taking over all of National City. They had already captured smaller villages all around.

As their newest superhero, Nia had been sent out on a diplomatic mission and had been given explicit instructions not to engage Cadmus. Unfortunately, the young inexperienced girl just had to go against orders once again. She had already been grounded twice since becoming a full fledged superhero.

“Send her in.” J’onn calls from outside his office. Nia gathers herself and confidently walks in, past J'onn's secretary.

“Sir.”

“I’m told you disobeyed orders and led the rebellion into a dangerous combat situation after you were ordered to retreat.”

“I was trying to protect a village from falling into Cadmus’s grasp.”

“You were reckless and put yourself and the other rebels in danger.”

“Fighting is supposed to be dangerous! How are we going to hold our own against Cadmus if we keep retreating? Pretty soon, we won’t have anything left to defend.”

“I’m growing tired of your back-talking, commander Nal.”

“Why did you even make me a commander if you won’t let me fight?”

“That’s enough! You’re grounded! No missions for three weeks.”

“Ugh. You never let me do anything!”

“We’re not having this discussion tonight. Go on.”

“I’m going!” Nia shouts as she storms off.

Kara stares at the badge in her hand as she looks out over the base. She proudly pins it to her uniform. All is calm, until Lena comes out of nowhere and playfully pins her to the wall.

“What’d she say? Hey, what’s this?” Lena steals the pin.

“Hey! Give it back.” Kara tries to grab it back, but Lena is faster than her and evades.

“No way. You’ve been promoted?”

“Well, kind of. I mean, yeah, I guess. Heh. But it’s not a big deal.”

“Are you kidding? That is awesome. We’re gonna see the world and conquer it.”

“Um…”

“What?”

“Lillian says you’re not coming.”

“What? My time was just as good as yours today. What is her problem with me?”

“I mean, you are kind of disrespectful.”

“Why should I respect her? She doesn’t have any real power. I guess it sure must be easy being a people pleaser like you.”

“I am not a pe-- Lena wait!” Kara yells as Lena runs away.

Kara catches up to her eventually, as she always does. She finds her sitting in her favorite spot, an abandoned lookout tower. 

“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t even think you wanted to be a force captain.”

“I don’t. Here, take your stupid badge.” Lena throws it at her lazily over her shoulder, keeping her attention on the woods beyond the base.

“Come on, Lena. This is what I’ve been working for my entire life. I was hoping you could be, I don’t know, happy for me.”

“Ugh, whatever. It’s not like I even care. I just want to get out of this dump at some point before I die of boredom.” Lena lays along the edge of the tower dramatically. “I wonder what’s even outside the base anyway.”

“Why don’t we go find out?” Kara says holding the keys to one of the vehicles.

“I take it all back. You’re officially awesome.” Lena shouts as Kara drives them past the fortress and into the woods. “I can’t believe you actually stole a bike.”

“Borrowed. Please don’t make me regret this.”

“I’ve always wanted to drive one of these things. Here, give me.” Lena says climbing over Kara and taking control.

“Woah. Save us enough fuel to get back.”

“That is a problem for future Kara and Lena.”

They continue to fight for control and Kara is knocked off. The motorcycle and Lena continue down the path, unable to turn suddenly. Kara rolls for a long time before she lands in front of an alien data crystal. She runs her hands along the side of it and symbols appear, she can tell they mean something, but before she has a chance to study it, Lena is calling for her. When Kara turns to look back at the crystal, it has disappeared. Kara pulls herself back up to the road where Lena finds her.

“Kara? Kara!” 

Kara takes into account her surroundings, mainly Lena kneeling on top of her leaning over in her face.

“Lena? What happened?”

“You fell off the bike after you almost drove it into a tree.”

“No, you almost drove it into a tree.” Kara says pushing Lena off of her.

“Ah, up for debate. Let’s go.”

“Wait. Where is it? Where’d it go?”

“What?”

“There was a data crystal. It was right here. I tried to touch it, but it lit up with these weird symbols.”

“Are you brain damaged? Don’t be brain damaged.” Lena grabs Kara’s face and manipulates her head. “Oh, Lillian is gonna kill me.”

Kara pushes Lena off of her. “I’m not brain damages. It was here, I saw it.”

“Well, there’s nothing here now. So, come on, let’s go.” Lena pulls Kara back to the motorcycle. She drives a lot slower on their way back.

Winn meets up with Nia in her apartment. He lets himself in with the key she had given him a while back, after they had been friends for about a year. They both work for J'onn at the tower, Winn working as technical support behind the heroes. That is where they met and really got to know each other

“Why can’t we go out tonight?” Winn asks.

“I’m grounded. I’m so mad at J’onn.”

“Is this about the siege on Southon?”

“I was just trying to defend another village from falling into Cadmus’s clutches. He stationed me all the way out there because it’s too remote to ever get attacked, but then it did, and it was my one chance to prove that I can do this. But he acts like I can’t do anything because I’m too young.”

Winn has been cleaning up her place as she rants. “Hey, where does this go?”

“Bottom drawer.”

“Anyway, J’onn might have a point. The only reason you got out of there is because of your powers, and you and I both know that Cadmus has ways to suppress those.”

“Looking for support here, Winn!”

“I’m just saying, if you wann prove yourself, it’s gonna take more than running recklessly into any old battle. Luckily, I’ve got just the thing.” He pulls out his tablet. “Check this out. I detected what I think is an alien data crystal out in the woods. If you find this one and bring it back, J’onn is bound to be impressed.”

“Did you forget I’m grounded? Screw it, I’m in.”

After dreams that seem like visions of the data crystal, a ship, a woman that looks a lot like her, a baby, and an explosion, Kara startles awake.

She tries not to bother Lena, who has slept in the same bed as her since they were little, as she gets out of bed. 

She fails. Lena calls after her just as she is about to walk out into the hallway.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“Back to the woods. There’s something I need to figure out.”

“What? You’re not--” Kara cuts Lena off covering her mouth with her hand as a guard bot passes. “What is wrong with you? You’ve been acting weird since we got back. Are you sure you’re not brain damaged?”

Lena tries to inspect her again, but Kara grabs her hands. “Look, Lena, I know I saw something out there. I just need to get another look. It feels important somehow.”

“Sounds good. Let’s go.”

“No. I don’t want you getting in trouble on my behalf. Just cover for me, okay? I’ll be back before anyone knows I’m gone.”

“Kara!” Lena calls, but does not follow as Kara runs toward the vehicle bay.

Winn’s tablet is on the fritz as they get further into the woods. 

“Ah, please. Tell me we’re not lost.”

“No, this thing is just acting up. Looks like it is being overloaded by a signal from the alien data crystal. We must be getting close!”

A blinding bright light shines through the trees. 

“Uh...I think it’s that way.” Nia says pointing in the direction of the source of light.

“What makes you say that?” Winn asks too preoccupied with his tablet to notice. He looks up. “Oh, yeah. That’ll do it.”

“What are you doing out here, Kara? Lena’s right, this is crazy. There’s no alien data crystal, you just got hit on the head a little too hard. You should just go back home and forget all about this.” Kara mumbles to herself, walking through the woods. Then she notices the light. She recognizes it from earlier and moves toward it.

There the crystal is. The symbols glowing, drawing Kara in closer.

“The light came from this way!” Nia’s voice, getting closer, does not deter Kara.

“The tablet says otherwise.” Winn protests.

“It’s this way!” Nia and Winn gasp at the same time when they notice the figure standing in front of the data crystal wearing a pin of a Cadmus force captain.

“Cadmus soldier!”

“I see her, Winn.”

Nia produces glowing blue balls of concentrated power in her hands and Winn pulls his slingshot. 

Kara, undeterred by the alien and her friend, despite their rediculously sparkly outfits and capes signifying that they are superheroes, runs toward the alien data crystal, but they shoot at her simultaneously. She is knocked against the wall trapped in a net fired from a slingshot, of all weapons. She is dazed but continues to fight, remembering Lillian’s last words to her. Kara cuts the rope with her hidden knife that Lena had always made fun of her for having tucked in her waistband. 

“Stand down. I don’t want to hurt you!” Kara shouts as she tackles Winn, the closest one to her.

“Since when do Cadmus soldiers not want to hurt anyone?” Nia blocks her path to the crystal.

After a direct hit to the head from Nia’s dream blast, she experiences extreme pain in her neck and falls unconscious. 

“Because of the Earth’s yellow sun, you’ll have great powers on this planet. You will do extraordinary things.” The woman, that looks like Kara, says in her dreams. “El Mayara.” The phrase means nothing to her, but it rings in her ears.

When Kara wakes up, she is confronted with Nia and Winn in her face. Her arms are bound in front of her.

“Hey! She’s awake!” The boy with the slingshot on his back shouts in her face.

“What happened?” Kara asks, dazed.

“Quiet, Cadmus spy, I ask the questions." The girl with the excessively sparkly blue and silver outfit and a _cape _says, her voice hard. "How did you make it this far into the woods?”__

____

____

“I just walked in. And I’m not a spy.”

“Sure, sure. You just so happened to find yourself in the woods, right next to our data crystal.”

“It’s not yours. I found it first.”

“These woods are under the rebellion’s protection. You were lucky to make it as far as you did. Come on Winn. Let’s get this spy back to the Tower where she can be interrogated properly.”

Nia’s facade falls as she pulls Winn to the side.

“This is perfect. Not only do we have an alien data crystal, we’ve also captured a Cadmus spy. J’onn’s gonna be so impressed.” Her tone hardens as she addresses her captured spy. “Now come on, on your feet.”

They start walking back to the tower. Nia has the crystal stashed in her pocket. Her suit doesn't have a lot of space, as it is skin tight, standard for most superheroes, but there is just enough space to store the crystal.

“Are you positive we’re going the right way, Nia?”

“I know what I’m doing, Winn. Can you please just trust me for once?” 

“You know I always trust you, but I’m starting to get a little freaked out. I’ve heard stories of weird stuff out here.”

“It’s fine, okay? Just let me figure this out.” Nia uses her powers to fling herself just far enough ahead of them that they can still see her.

“Okay! Touchy. Sorry about her. Usually she’s really nice.” Winn helps Kara navigate the forrest floor. “Not much for talking huh?”

“I prefer not to swap pleasantries with my captors.” Kara says acting aloof.

“Suit yourself.”

“You know she’s an alien right? How can you follow her? Aliens are a dangerous threat to everyone on Earth.”

“Is that what Lillian Luthor told you?”

“I thought it was just common knowledge. They’re violent instigators who don’t even know how to control their powers.”

“You’ve never actually met an alien, have you?”

Kara sighs, “Well maybe not in person, but…”

The come upon a ruin of a small village. There are a few destroyed Cadmus bots lying around the crumbled walls of the structures that used to be there. Nia picks up a crumpled photo of a woman and a child holding hands.

“What happened to this place?” Kara asks.

“Don’t play dumb with me. I bet you were part of the raiding party that did this.”

“What are you talking about? Cadmus didn’t do this.”

Nia grabs the rope where Kara’s arms are tied together and pulls her to the Cadmus bot that is clearly labeled with their sigil. “Oh yeah? You’re a heartless destroyer, just like all the rest of your people.”

“I am not a destroyer. Lillian says we’re doing what’s best for Earth. We’re trying to make things better. More orderly.”

“This is what’s best for Earth? Ever since Cadmus was formed, they’ve been poisoning our land, burning our cities, destroying everything in their path. And you’re a part of it! How’s that for orderly?”

Nia storms off.

“That doesn’t make any sense. Cadmus would never do something like this.”

“Did you really not know any of this?”

“Cadmus rescued me when I was a baby and gave me a home. They’re my family. You don’t know them like I do.”

“Maybe you don’t know them like you think you do.”

Nia shouts in the distance. “There’s something out there. Something big.”

“How big?”

They are all knocked to the ground by a dragon.

“So pretty big then.”

The dragon attacks them. Nia and Winn try their best to fight against it, Winn, firing and reloading as fast as he can, and Nia, hitting it with her dream blasts. Kara sees that she has the opportunity to escape with the crystal which has fallen out of Nia’s pocket when she was flung against a tree. Kara makes a decision.

“Hey! Dragon breath! Over here!” She calls, drawing the attention away from Nia and Winn. The dragon turns at her. “Come on, freaky crystal. Oh, where’s a blinding flash of light when you need one?” 

Kara screams as the dragon gets closer. She holds the crystal out, hoping that would do something to stop it. There is a flash of light and the familiar woman is back. “El Mayara” rings in her ears.

“El Mayara,” she whispers, not confident it will do anything, but willing to try. The data crystal activates, and the dragon shrinks it’s form to what she can only assume, from pictures she's seen in books, to be a lizard. Nanites cover her body and she is soon dressed in a skintight suit with a Kryptonian symbol on her chest and a cape flowing behind her. Her hair is freed from where she had it tied up, and so are her arms. She also begins to hover above the ground without her knowledge.

(End first episode)

“Nia?”

“Yeah, I see her, Winn.”

“Okay. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t just me.”

Kara realizes that she is floating and screams, collapsing on the ground, the costume disappears as well, leaving Kara in her old Cadmus uniform. Kara feels the power from the crystal fade. Nia runs over and attempts to steal the crystal from her.

“Stay where you are!”

“What did you do to me?”

“What do you mean what did I do to you?”

“I didn’t know being an alien was contagious!” Kara shouts, the disdain that has been drilled into her is evident in her voice.

Winn joins the struggle over the crystal. “Okay, okay, everyone, calm down!” He shouts, not sounding calm at all.

“Wanna tell us how you did that?” He stares into Kara’s eyes.

“I didn’t do anything. All I did was pick up the crystal, and then, woosh, I’m hovering above the ground in spandex!”

“I don’t care how she did it. We just have to make sure she never does it again!” Nia finally gains control over the crystal, and as soon as it is solely in her hands, the lizard turns back into a dragon. It focuses all of its attention on Nia who has the crystal, and Winn who is hiding with her behind a tree.

Winn takes the crystal and runs over to Kara shouting, “Do it again! Do it again!”

“Winn!” Nia scoffs and chases after him, just in time. The dragon smashes into the tree.

“Do what you did before.”

“I don’t know what I did before!” Kara shouts, frustrated and confused.

“No time. We have to go.” Nia says, snatching the crystal from Kara.

After they all notice that the dragon has recovered from crashing into the tree, and is now charging at them, they all take off running.

After falling off a cliff, the arrive at a strange formation with the same type of writings on it as the crystal.

“What is this place?” Kara asks.

The dragon appears at the edge of the cliff.

“No idea, but in there’s gotta be better than out here.”

They pick themselves up and run toward the structure just in time for the dragon to land where they just were. 

Winn runs at the door and tries to pry it open. 

“What’s written on this door? It looks like some kind of password.”

“You can read that?” Winn asks, shocked.

“You can’t?”

“What’s it say?” Winn demands as the dragon picks itself up and beings to advance on them.

“Uh, ‘Krypton.’”

The symbols on the door glow and the passage parts. 

“Oh, come on!” Nia shouts, exasperated.

They all run in, just in time before the dragon slams against it.

Nia lights up the structure with her dream energy.

“So, Cadmus soldier, have you always been able to read Kryptonian?”

Nia shines the light directly in Kara’s face. “Wanna tell us what exactly is going on here?”

Kara answers with her arm up, blocking the light from her face. “I told you I don’t know. I just read the word on the door.”

“Right… You just read a word in a language that no one speaks on this planet, and the door just opened into a mysterious fortress. Sure.”

“You think I did this on purpose? You think I wanted to be an alien? Aliens are monsters!” Kara shouts in Nia’s face.

“Monsters? You’re the monster!”

“Whoa, whoa.” Winn gets between them. “Nia, she did save us.”

“I don’t care! We can’t trust her, Winn. Or have you forgotten everything Cadmus has done to us? The people we’ve lost.” Nia tears up. “We need to find another way out of here and get her back to the tower as soon as possible. J’onn will know what to do with her.” Nia walks further into the building.

“Hey, so, thanks for saving us from that dragon back there when you could’ve escaped instead.” Winn says softly. 

“Okay, well, I didn’t save you. I just wanted to get the crystal, okay?”

“Are you sure it’s not because you secretly like us?”

“Wh--? I don’t like you. You’re my captors,” Kara says, indignantly.

“Sure...Thanks for saving us anyway. I’m Winn, by the way.” Winn says joining her as Kara follows in the direction Nia stormed off.

“Kara.”

“Look at these carvings. I think this might be a Kryptonian memorial.”

“What’s a Kryptonian?”

“You’ve never heard of the Kryptonians?”

“Kryptonians are aliens from the planet Krypton. They are a powerful people, but their planet was destroyed around 24 years ago. Before now, I thought the only fortress like this one was in the arctic.”

“Cadmus didn’t tell you about them?”

“Seems like there’s a lot Cadmus didn’t tell me.”

“Ugh. How do we get out of here?” Nia asks, exasperated.

Winn sighs. “It’ll take forever to find a way out at this rate. Hey, wanna turn on some lights, Kara.”

“I don’t know how to do that.”

“Maybe there’s a magic word. Ooh, what’s the Kryptonian word for ‘lights’?”

“I don’t know. I’m not Kryptonian.”

“Obviously." Nia rolls her eyes. Then she braces herself. "Everyone stand back.”

“Do you know what you’re doing?”

“I’m gonna create a ball of light and throw it at the roof.”

“Sure go for it.” Winn says sarcastically.

Surprisingly, it works, the entire area lights up. In front of them is a very large mural of a woman.

“Oh, hey! That’s you!”

“What? That doesn’t look anything like me.”

“No, I mean, the other you. The scary one in the cape.”

“That was me?”

“You can read that inscription, right? What’s it say?”

“It says, supergirl.”

Everything around them lights up. A hologram suddenly appears before them. It is the woman form Kara’s visions.

“Greetings. What is your query?”

“What is this thing?” Kara asks.

“I think it’s come kind of hologram.”

She repeats. “What is your query?”

“Um. Hi. What is this place?” 

After waiting for an answer and not receiving one, Winn asks slower, “How do we get out of here?”

She repeats, “What is your query?”

“Well, she’s broken.”

“Super not detected. Lockdown initiated.” Everything turns red and all the doors begin to close.

“I didn’t do it!”

“No. No lockdown!”

The structure begins to collapse around them.

“Kara, you gotta get it to stop!”

“What makes you think I can?”

“Query not recognized.” the unhelpful hologram states.

“There’s gotta be a password or something!”

“Uh, stop it! Uh, Krypton!” Kara gets an idea. “Give me the data crystal.”

“What? No!” Nia shouts, holding it against her chest.

“We need the scary lady in the cape. I don’t know how, but she’s the key to this place, so maybe she can get us out.”

“You’re a Cadmus soldier. I’m not giving you the crystal.” Nia declares before a large piece of the building comes down nearly on top of her.

“Krypton!” Kara tries again. “Supergirl, Cape, Super!

Nia makes a decision. She grabs onto everyone and uses her emergency teleportation watch to get them out of the building. Unfortunately, they end up in the sky, quickly falling toward the ground. Winn shoots one of his nets and arranges it to catch them.

Once they all get down, Nia turns to Kara, “Why are you still here?”

“What?”

“Winn and I are hardly a crack security team. You could’ve escaped at any time. Why didn’t you?”

“I just--I wanna figure out what’s happening to me, and if I go back to the base, then I’ll never know. I never knew where I came from or who my family was. Lillian said it didn’t matter who I was before, that I was nothing before she took me in. There’s always been a part of me that I don’t know anything about. And all of this feels familiar somehow. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

“J’onn knows more about Kryptonians than anyone. He’ll know what’s going on with you and the data crystal for sure. So, if you want your questions answered, stick with us?”

“Let’s go. There should be a village a few miles from here. They’ll be able to give us a ride back to the tower. We’ve wasted too much time already.”

“For the last time, where is Kara?” Lillian demands.

“For the last time, I don’t know. You think I keep her on a leash?”

“I know you’re lying. You two are close. She would never depart without telling you.”

“Then I guess she let us both down, huh?” Lena says in a tone that is both playful and self-depreciating.

“Have it your way. I already know where she is. We’ve been tracking her.”

Lena scoffs, “Uh, then why did you ask me?”

“Because you are going to bring her back.”

“I don’t think so.” 

Lillian shocks her, keeping her frozen in place as the electricity locks up all of her muscles. “Your insolence will not protect her. You will do as I ask.”

“Oh, yeah? Or what?”

Lillian grips Lena’s chin, roughly bringing Lena to her eye line. “Or you will suffer the consequences in her place.”

The village is nothing like Kara had ever seen before. There are people who are obviously aliens and people who look like humans dancing and playing together.

“Okay,” Nia grabs Kara’s arm, pulling her away from view. “The jacket comes off.”

“What? Why?”

“Because if the villagers see a Cadmus soldier, they’ll freak out. So we gotta fix... all this.” Nia gestures to Kara’s entire body.

Kara takes off her jacket, and Nia puts her cape on Kara to cover the sigil on her undershirt.

“I feel ridiculous.”

“That’s because you need something to tie it all together.” Winn says as he places a flower he picked off a nearby bush, behind her ear.

“I don’t like it.” Kara says with her face scrunched up. The crinkle Lena always pokes at whenever she makes that face making an appearance.

“The point is, you don’t look like a Cadmus soldier anymore. Just try and keep a low profile. We’ll be in and out.”

As Kara looks around, there are banners and balloons. “What is this?”

“It’s a festival. You know, like a big party.” Winn stops walking when he doesn’t see any reaction in Kara’s face. “You don’t have parties on your base?”

“Oh, right, parties.” Kara says unconvincingly. “I mean, yeah, pfft, of course. I, uh--I don’t know what that is.”

Winn looks devastated as Nia walks back over to them. “Did you even hear what I just said? In and out, Winn!”

“She has never been to a party before, Nia. This is serious.”

Winn grabs Kara’s hand and leads her to many of the stands that are set up to provide food. Kara falls in love with everything she’s been given, shoveling it all down. She finds herself enraptured by a storyteller, who seems to be telling children’s stories.

Kara is eating again, her new favorite thing, Potstickers, when Winn asks, “So, seriously? No parties ever? What do you do on your birthday?”

“Huh?”

“No birthdays?!” Winn is outraged. “How is your life this sad?”

Coming from the main part of the village, they hear explosions and screaming.

“What’s going on?” Winn asks.

They all run in that direction to find Cadmus bots destroying the town, targeting innocent people.

“It’s Cadmus,” Nia proclaims as she drags them into a booth to avoid detection from a couple of soldiers. 

“Why are they here? The people of this village Northon aren’t a threat to them.”

“Wait. Did you say Northon? This can’t be Northon.” Kara is shook.

“Did you know something about this?” Nia demands, backing Kara into a corner.

“No. I mean, yes, but there’s been a mistake. Northon’s supposed to be a heavily fortified rebel fortress, not a civilian town.”

Nia grabs Kara’s arm and drags her back outside to witness the destruction. “Do you really think that matters to them?”

“I can get them to stop. This is all a big mistake. I just need to talk to them. Get as many people out as you can and don’t let them see you.” Kara sheds Nia’s cape, and turns back one last time. “I’m sorry.”

She runs into the fight.

“Stop!” She commands, standing in the path of the tank. 

When it stops, the door pops open on the top and out comes Lena in all her glory. She has never worn the standard Cadmus uniform, always looking better in a tighter, suit that is custom made for her and clings to her body. For better mobility, she had always claimed.

“Kara!”

“Lena?" Kara asks, shocked as Lena tackles her, and playfully crouches over her. "I don’t understand. Why are you doing here?”

“Uh, duh, we came to find you. ‘Cover for me Lena. No one will know I’m gone.’ Seriously, did you just immediately get captured right after you snuck out or--? What are you wearing?” Lena asks, pointing to the flower somehow still in Kara’s hair. Kara pulls it out and throws it on the ground.

“Look, there’s no time. We have to put a stop to this.” Kara says.

“What? Why?”

“Because this is a civilian town. Look around! These aren’t insurgents, they’re innocent people!”

“Yeah, sure. Innocent people who kidnapped a Cadmus officer. Now come on, let’s get you back to the base. Lillian is freaking out.” Lena laughs. “It’d be funny if she weren’t such a terrible person.”

“Lena, no. I can’t go back. Not until Cadmus leaves this town alone. You have to help me.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying this is wrong. They’ve been lying to us, manipulating us. Lillian, Henshaw, all of them."

“Duh. You just figured that out? Manipulation is Lillian Luther’s whole thing. She’s been messing with our heads since we were kids.”

“How could you possibly be okay with that?”

“Because. It doesn’t matter what they do. The two of us look out for each other. And soon, we’ll be the ones calling the shots. Now, come on, can we go home already?”

“I’m not going home, Lena. I can’t. Not after everything I’ve seen. Come with me. You don’t have to go back there. We can fix this.” Kara latches on to Lena’s arm, but she smacks her off.

“Are you kidding? You’ve known these people for, what, a couple hours? And now you’re gonna throw everything away for them? Ugh. What happened to you?” Lena asks, the hurt evident in her voice.

“I don’t know. But I have to do something. I’m sorry, Lena.”

As Kara turns away, Lena tases her in the back.

“I think that’s all of them.” Winn says, helping one of the citizens out of the area. “Nia, let’s go!”

They try to take off, but watch as the Cadmus soldiers swarm the area.

“What are we gonna do?”

“There’s nothing we can do, Winn. You’re almost out of ammo, and my powers are fading.”

“You can’t say that. You’re Nia. You throw yourself into every fight no matter how hopeless.”

“Ugh. Every decision I’ve made in the last day has almost gotten us killed. J’onn’s right, I’m not ready for this yet.”

“No. You are not giving up now.” Winn grabs Nia’s face. “I’m sorry J’onn doesn’t see how strong you are, but that’s his loss. You can do this, Nia. And you don’t have to do it alone.”

“You’re right.” Nia declares. “We need Kara.”

“We do? Didn’t she just sell us out to Cadmus?”

“I don’t think she did. We need to find her. I think she can help us. Just trust me. Okay?”

They run off in the direction they last saw Kara.

“Oh, man. That was a lot stronger than I thought.” Lena worriedly asks, “Are you okay?”

“Lena!” Kara sits up. 

Lena shocks her again, yelping as she does it. “I’m sorry! It was a reflex.”

“Why are you doing this?” Kara groans.

“Because you left me. And if I don’t bring you back. Lillian’s gonna have my head. So enough with your weird little identity crisis and let’s go home already," Lena practically pleads, "Or do I need to zap you again?”

Before Kara can answer, Nia hits Lena with a dream blast and she stumbles away. Winn fires a net that ensnares Lena’s entire body and knocks her on the ground. Nia wraps Kara in a wire and pulls her out of sight.

“Kara!” Lena screams as she attacks Winn.

“Nia? What are you doing? Why did you save me?” Kara asks as they hide behind a building that hasn’t quite collapsed.

“We need you. We need you to use your powers.” Nia hands over the data crystal. “I should have given this back to you in the fortress. You could’ve saved us back there and I knew that. But I was stupid. And a jerk, and I almost got us killed, and I’m sorry.”

“You’re not any of those things. I’m the Cadmus agent. How do you know you can trust me now?”

“I don’t. But I hope I can. I feel like maybe you’re here to help us.”

They are beginning to be surrounded by Cadmus bots. 

“El Mayara,” Kara shouts holding the crystal. The nanites cover her and she feels the power flood throughout her body. It seems as though she can hear and see everything that is happening on Earth. She stares at the bots, and fire comes from her eyes, slicing the bots in half.

It is looking bad for Winn. His fight with Lena leaves him with a broken rib, and he finds himself surrounded by Cadmus agents, bots, and tanks.

Kara, in her superhero outfit, flies down and destroys all of their weapons. She crushes a tank with her bare hands. She heat visions the rest of the bots. 

“Is that Kara?”

“It’s...Supergirl.” Nia declares.

The remaining Cadmus soldiers retreat. All except Lena who watches from the sidelines.

Kara’s heroic facade falls, and she is transformed back into her uniform. 

Lena has seen that it is her former best friend who was exhibiting alien powers in a superhero uniform.

Kara’s eyes meet Lena’s. Lena’s face turns from surprised to angry. 

“Lena,” Kara weakly calls to her friend as she runs away. Kara makes no move to stop her.

Winn and Nia hug her. “You did it!”

“I did?”

“You saved us. You saved everyone.”

“I did it. I turned against Cadmus! I turned against Cadmus. Why did I do that? I can’t go back now. Where am I supposed to go?”

“Hey, hey. It’s okay. You’re with us now. So, come on, let’s go home.”

Nia helps Kara up.

“Superfriends!” Winn shouts, triumphantly.


End file.
